Hevrdejs & Conklin INC.

Stone's Football Film May Go For Da Coach Instead Of Conspiracy

January 31, 1997|By Judy Hevrdejs and Mike Conklin.

If Oliver Stone's NFL movie makes it to the big screen, you can be sure Mike Ditka's persona will surface in the coach characters. "You can't live in Chicago for a number of years and escape the influence of Ditka," John Logan tells us. It's Logan's drama, "Any Given Sunday," along with Robert Huizenga's "Playing Hurt" that's being used by Stone for the movie script.

"Oliver and I both see pro football as a great symbol for what is great and problematic about America," says Logan, a playwright-turned-screenwriter teaching at Northwestern University. His "Sunday," says Logan, is "King Lear in the NFL." It's about a coach he sees as a combination of Ditka, Don Shula and 100 others in conflict with a rookie QB.

Cosby commencement: Bill Cosby has confirmed for NU officials that he'll speak at the school's June 20 commencement. The initial contact between Cosby and the university was made before his son's murder.

Road trip: "Access Hollywood," will jump on the TV ratings sweeps bandwagon with a coast-to-coast bus trip that starts Friday in Burbank. No, hosts (and ex-Chicagoans) Giselle Fernandez and Larry Mendte won't be riding along. Correspondent Jeff Probst got that job. But a spokeswoman tells us Mendte plans to fly here to meet the bus. To see friends, she says. Right. Maybe it has something to do with a show bit planned for Chicago--a visit to a college basketball game with Jenny McCarthy.

Daley news: U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin's speech Thursday on behalf of Bill Daley was his first from the Senate floor. He didn't forget how to get attention--likening Daley to "a playmaker like Michael Jordan." . . . By the way, what's wrong with this picture: Bill Daley gets confirmed as the new U.S. Commerce Secretary and it's brother Rich Daley leaving to attend the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

Big Brother: With so many TV helicopters overhead, it was inevitable one--WGN-TV's--couldn't resist snooping. In this case, the copter focused on a high-rise apartment with a Christmas tree still on display. This touched off angry calls to Bob Collins' WGN-Radio morning show about "right to privacy." So the station did a simulcast with TV traffic reporter Robin Baumgarten. Synergy at work? The stations may have the same owner, but the on-air repartee Thursday between Collins and Baumgarten got testy.

Tuning in: When Walter Cronkite, making the book rounds Thursday in Chicago, dropped into the WBBM-Ch. 2 studios, about 40 people greeted him in the reception area with applause. Cronkite immediately put his arm around station manager Hank Price's shoulder and said, "Give 'em all a raise." . . . Price is moving the station's half-hour, midday news from noon to 11 a.m., starting Feb. 10. The next change? The morning show--now a 5:30 a.m. start--will begin at 5 a.m.

Aloha: Brett Favre's people deny their man accepted that huge offer to dine with a Packer backer after the Super Bowl. They're sensitive. Favre's been criticized for being a no-show in Green Bay for the victory celebration attended by teammates. It doesn't look good if the QB stiffed shivering fans to make money. Instead, they say he missed them to fly to Hawaii for the Pro Bowl.